Joseph in Islam
[3]: 128 In addition to the role of God in his life, the story of Yusuf and Zulaikha (Potiphar's wife in the Old Testament) became a popular subject of Persian literature and was elaborated over centuries.
There are over one hundred verses in this chapter, encompassing many years; they "present an amazing variety of sciences and characters in a tightly-knit plot, and offer a dramatic illustration of some of the fundamental themes of the Qurʾān.
[6] Muhammad at-Ṭabari provides detailed commentary on the narrative in his chapter on Joseph, relaying the opinions of other well-known scholars.
According to al-Ṭabari, she could do this because of a belt given to her by her father, Isaac: "If someone else acquired it by guile from the person who was supposed to have it, then he would become absolutely subject to the will of the rightful owner.
As the sun appeared over the horizon, bathing the earth in morning glory, Joseph (son of Jacob) awakens delighted by a pleasant dream.
I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!According to Ibn Kathir, Jacob knows that Joseph will become important in this world and the next.
Abu Ya'ala interpreted Jacob's reaction as an understanding that the planets, sun, and moon bowing to Joseph represented "something dispersed which God united.
[11] One brother argued against killing him and suggested throwing him into a well, said to be Jubb Yusif (Arabic: جب يوسف, lit.
why dost thou not trust us with Joseph, – seeing we are indeed his sincere well-wishers?Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play, and we shall take every care of him.
He said: "Nay, but your minds have made up a tale (that may pass) with you, (for me) patience is most fitting: Against that which ye assert, it is God (alone) Whose help can be sought"...Al-Ṭabari writes that Judah stops the brothers from further harming Joseph, and brings him food.
But God knoweth well all that they do.The (Brethren) sold him for a miserable price, for a few dirhams counted out: in such low estimation did they hold him!The man in Egypt who bought him, said to his wife: "Make his stay (among us) honourable: maybe he will bring us much good, or we shall adopt him as a son."
Al-Tabari and others note that Joseph is also attracted to her, and al-Ṭabari writes that he does not succumb to her because when they were alone, the "figure of Jacob appeared to him, standing in the house and biting his fingers ... God turned him away from his desire for evil by giving him a sign that he should not do it.
"[7]: 168 Ibn Kathir agrees with al-Ṭabari, saying that Joseph sought "restitution for this in order that 'Aziz might know that he was not false to him during his absence" and Zulaikha eventually admitted that nothing happened between them.
He tells Joseph, "Verily, this day, you are with us high in rank and fully trusted" (Surah Yusuf Quran 12:54) recognizing his virtues, ability, brilliance, good conduct and perfect mannerisms.
The title "pharaoh" began to be used to refer to rulers of Egypt with Thutmose III in 1479 BCE, about 20 years after Joseph's death.
[21] The King (of Egypt) said: "I do see (in a vision) seven fat kine, whom seven lean ones devour, and seven green ears of corn, and seven (others) withered.
Their father makes them swear by Allah to come back with him,[7]: 168–169 and orders the brothers to use separate gates when returning to Egypt, for their safety and to avoid unnecessary suspicion.
After much angry discussion, the brothers try to have Benjamin released by offering themselves instead; however, Joseph denies this and says that the one who committed the crime should be the one who atones.
To prove they did not abandon Benjamin with malicious intent, they tell Jacob of their brother's crime, and use the caravan they traveled with as witnesses.
According to al-Ṭabari, this means that "from the truth of the interpretation of Joseph's dream in which he saw eleven planets and the sun and the moon bowing down to him, he knew that which they did not know".
Joseph symbolizes beauty, and is admired as a preacher of Islam who is strongly committed to God and tries to persuade people to follow the path of righteousness.
Discussions, interpretations and retellings of his life may be found in tafsir, histories by al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kat̲h̲īr and others, and in the poetry and pietistic literature of a number of religions.
[29] Joseph is a model of virtue and wisdom in spiritual literature, extolled in Ṣūfī works such as Abū Naṣr al-Sarrād̲j̲'s K. al-Lumaʿ as a paragon of forgiveness.
According to Firestone in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, "His beauty was so exceptional that the behavior of the wife of al-ʿAzīz is forgiven, or at least mitigated, because of the unavoidably uncontrollable love and passion that his countenance would rouse in her.
According to Encyclopædia Iranica, much is derived from the Esra'Illiyat: traditions drawn from knowledge about Biblical events and people shared by Christians, Jews, and early Muslims.
[1]: 2 "All the Arabic commentaries on Surat Yusuf include explanations and discussions of lexicography and grammar to clarify the literal meaning of the Qurʾānic story of Joseph.
According to Mir's 1986 article in The Muslim World, this surah highlights the way dominion is established; God is al-Latif (Arabic: الـلَّـطـيـف, lit.
[33] "The Persian versions include full narratives, but also episodic anecdotes and incidental references which occur in prose works, didactic and lyrical poetry and even in drama.
The motif was suited to be used by Sufi writers and poets as one of the most important models of the relationship between the manifestation of Divine beauty in the world and the loving soul of the mystic.
[35]: 2 In Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni's Kitab al-Kafi, when the fire was set for Abraham, Gabriel brought him a shirt from paradise and made him wear it.
